Blowback Archive

Using humor to shrug off the incident shows how little regard the president has for the opinions of those most affected by administration policies.

Hilda Solis supports her own right to vote by secret ballot but not that of employees deciding whether to join a union.

Linda Darling-Hammond, the president-elect’s education transition chief, is a leader in developing innovative programs that provide models for reform.

What do children really gain from seeing the world’s largest land mammals suffer in confinement?

A Times Op-Ed writer stubbornly dismissed evidence that shows an important artifact from the Holy Land may not be a hoax.

A Times Op-Ed columnist defended a religious group that worked tirelessly to trample on the rights of same-sex couples.

Close the depressing, subterranean location in downtown L.A., not the more lively Geffen Contemporary.

The Kissinger-era counterbalancing won’t do the trick. Investing in global institutions will.

Should users who relapse face jail time? What exactly is a ‘successful’ treatment program?

Educating supervisors about state and federal laws on workplace conduct protects them and their employees.

A Times editorial doesn’t focus enough on the fatigue-induced errors by air traffic controllers and pilots that lead to near-disasters.

Recent reports raise doubts about the Georgian president’s account of the war, yet western nations are still providing aid to his government.

In a tight economy, too many Angelenos jettison art spending as an unaffordable luxury to feed other expensive indulgences.

A recent Times Op-Ed article exploits a double standard that says it’s OK for certain groups to openly express bigotry.

A recent Op-Ed article in support of Proposition 8 shows a poor understanding about the biological roots of human behavior.

Collecting more than 1.3 million voter registration applications ought to be applauded. So why does John McCain paint us as a threat to democracy?

The officials and special interests who oppose the drug rehabilitation measure are doing so to protect their own power and money.

A Times Op-Ed article mischaracterizes legislation that merely gives terminally ill California patients the power to direct their own healthcare.

The government’s list of state sponsors of terrorism has been an important tool in making the world safer.

Opponents have misled voters into thinking the measure would go easy on drug offenders.

Giving farm animals some elbow room wouldn’t result in the scary business scenarios peddled by opponents.

Forcing schools to spend more of their endowments on easing tuition burdens would put nonprofits on a slippery slope.

In its coverage of the disputed development near Universal Studios, The Times understates the extent of the opposition from the community.

In it’s ‘no’ endorsement of Proposition 9, The Times displays a callous disregard for the suffering endured by victims and their families.

A recent Times Op-Ed article supporting Prop. 8 claims to advocate for children. In reality, denying equal marriage rights harms everyone.

The Times should support programs that would put cleaner-burning fuel in the cars and trucks on our roads.

Under close scrutiny, almost all of the objections raised by The Times and other opponents melt away.

The attacks that filter up from the left-wing blogosphere to the mainstream media betray a shallow, distorted view of conservative Americans.

Opposition to a researcher’s request for test takers’ data is about privacy, not affirmative action.

The learning-disabled shouldn’t have to achieve the same scores as everyone else to pass the state exit exam.

There’s no need to build new infrastructure when we can make relatively simple technological improvements to existing roads and cars.

The Times editorial board favors a system that cheats active-duty service members of their full due-process protections.

If The Times had its way, millions of Americans would be out of work thanks to unfair foreign competition.

The Times is wrong to support a national scheme that could disenfranchise California voters.

Contrary to The Times’ position, it isn’t censorship to inform parents when a movie depicts lighting up.

An Op-Ed article by Supervisors Burke and Yaroslavsky exaggerated the harm they cause the environment.

The Times was wrong to say that the city’s retail development exacerbates West L.A.’s traffic problems.

A state bill would muddle laws on end-of-life care and establish a dangerous precedent.

The Times incorrectly casts bishops opposed to progress on gay rights as victims of Western encroachment.

State law requires psychiatrists and psychologists to carefully evaluate sex offenders -- and that costs a lot of money.

Sacramento was wrong to delay a law that would impose a fee on disposable bags.

Backroom dealing is no way to set L.A. County’s long-term transportation priorities.

Councilman Parks’ ordinance would improve conditions for neighborhoods and those who seek work outside home-improvement stores.

China’s upbeat conformity may look strange to us, but it’s part of a powerful tradition.

Federal courts took far too long to rule that it’s wrong to strip-search a 13-year-old girl suspected of carrying ibuprofen.

Posting caloric content to menus may be helpful -- but not if it causes consumers to ignore their own senses.

Despite its claims, the organization’s plans to run Locke High School won’t empower students or offer more local control.

T. Boone Pickens’ proposals to wean the country off foreign oil could provide more benefit to Iran than to the U.S.

A recent Op-Ed article unfairly characterized the country’s government and efforts to combat radicalism within its borders.

The moratorium on new restaurants will ultimately mean more options for residents.

Neither candidate’s proposed solution can address underlying issues with the K-12 system.

L.A.’s transit authority already has enough of our money to improve its most crucial network -- the bus system.

Northrop unfairly manipulated the Air Force away from the Boeing plane, which is a better fit for our military.

Impenetrable though the state budget may seem, every extra dollar spent on Californians provides both tangible and societal benefits.

Although some fear that prosecuting Sudan’s president could halt progress in the region, it is the only way to secure lasting stability.

Unless the cost of food is reined in, expect to see obesity levels continue to climb.

The menu-labeling bill would help California fight the obesity crisis, opponents’ arguments notwithstanding.

The company insists its refueling craft is best, but the Air Force should stick with Northrop-EADS.

Nutrition is more complex than a few figures can convey. And who wants to count while they’re eating?

California students have met seemingly unattainable standards before.

L.A. needs to stop trumpeting rosy statistics and get tougher on crime and illegal immigrants.

Maybe not, if the recent New Yorker cover is any indication.

With budget cuts too deep to fund sound instruction, schools won’t be able to teach algebra properly.

Sandra Tsing Loh would have more to say about a recent Prop. 98 Op-Ed, but she has to get back to baking.

The key figure behind California’s Telephone Privacy Act says the new legislation shatters the rule of law.

What China’s success at the Summer Games would mean for American athletic and global leadership.

Rebutting John Stagliano and John Wright.

A fellow Latino attorney addresses the former attorney general’s recent Op-Ed article.

A focus on chronic disease would mean lower costs and easier access.

People -- no matter their ethnicity -- move freely when they have the money to do it.

It’s not the gangs, it’s the cops. L.A.’s law enforcement agencies should stop the playground antics.

Let Cy Bolton count the memos.

His collaborator on the PBS children’s show ‘Shining Time Station’ looks back.

America ranked second to last in a 1964 test of students worldwide. Those students went on to transform the American economy.

Locke High School tried to reform under union and district leadership, but the obstacles were too great.

A back-and-forth on Judge Alex Kozinski’s stash.

A body count doesn’t capture the atmosphere of a classroom.

Alex Kozinski isn’t a hypocrite or a disgrace to the judicial bench. He’s normal.

Wine aficionados and their fancy words are just like sports fans and their stats.

The misconduct standards the porn-collecting judge advocated might now be used against him.

The movement to privatize education has a friend in The Times.

Creating a chair of conservative studies makes a discipline out of a political fad.

Building beds for the mentally ill is a fine goal, but why not reduce overcrowding first?

They cause blackouts that lose California businesses and utilities tens of millions of dollars a year.

Without federal or state-level rules, it’s up to local governments to take on greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s the right response to lawsuits that seek to define marriage contrary to many Americans’ beliefs.

Politicizing nuclear policymaking could have devastating results.

Thirty years later, it’s still giving the state and taxpayers what they want -- predictability.

The policy protects the public by meting discipline while maintaining law enforcement morale.

President Bush was right to call it appeasement.

Charging $15 for a checked bag isn’t going to win the hearts of consumers who like their freebies free.

The problem with nonconsensual aid to the Burmese isn’t about numbers or neo-imperialism, it’s about logistics.

Many black religious leaders support gays and lesbians, but they don’t show up in media coverage.

It’s about how to think, not about how to do.

School programs like Reading First can’t do the job until parents do theirs.

The South African president is a diplomat, not an appeaser of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

East Coast snobs with Old World sympathies take cheap shots at a great product.

Without one, the entire California economy is at risk.

Enough about Obama and Wright. This election is about Bush.

By pushing to dismantle them, Fabian Nuñez is defying the will of California voters.

Our future depends on advocating sustainable population growth, however politically incorrect.

Congestion pricing more accurately reflects the cost of commuting.

The Writers Guild has an obligation to judge the actions of members who worked during the strike.

Don’t just tally how many doctors were disciplined. Boards need adequate funding and staffing to investigate physician competency.

When even scientists acknowledge that 25 years of research haven’t born any fruit, it’s time to stop searching for an AIDS vaccine.

Policymakers should respond to fact, not fear, on Special Order 40.

If the Guantanamo Bay prison does close, Ft. Leavenworth isn’t the place to house them.

Looking at long-term trends, the ocean, and climate change for clues.

Conservation alone won’t cut it -- California needs desalination.

A brief letter from David Baltimore and Seth Berkley

Creating a reliable funding stream would save schools from budget cuts.

Debates over symbolic gestures rob those who are victims of gang violence and their families.

A California librarian did the right thing by calling the police on a patron reportedly viewing child porn.

What Martin Luther King might have said in response to a Times editorial ridiculing a murder moratorium.

Outlawing payday lenders limits consumer choice.

The U.S. should focus its funds on providing treatment to people in need.

An S & P managing director explains.

Oaths aren’t mere McCarthy-era tools of oppression -- they’ve been around for centuries.

An L.A. Unified grad gives some gratitude during a hard time for schools.

A Turkish American takes Justice and Development Party leaders to task.

The ruling party is corrupting the country’s secular character.

Rigorous standards ensure their high quality, but misapprehension about generics remains.

Thoughtful evaluations would do better job of measuring teacher success.

A member of the Justice and Development Party says his country deserves advanced democracy.

What the candidate should have said about race.

Feminism is going strong even though the ‘Bitch’ author has left the spotlight.

Claiming that male infidelity has roots in nature ignores important findings about the females of the species.

More medical training for Americans would mean better care here, and around the world.

Mexican American war vets and Eastside teachers did more for Mexican Americans than a small protest.

Travel to the U.S. has nearly recovered to its pre-9/11 level.

Jonah Goldberg resurrects Red-baiting techniques against Obama and Clinton, says a reader.

Blaming rape survivors for their clothes or habits betrays a fear of female independence.

A University of Virginia student explains why campus assault is underreported and rarely prosecuted.

The awards don’t play well on the small screen, so make them an industry-only event again.

When patient health is at risk, doctors would do well to follow the example of their California peers.

A student activist reacts to an Op-Ed claiming that there is no campus rape crisis.

The graduated driver license law isn’t the only thing to blame for higher fatalities.

Foreign intelligence gathering requires different tools from criminal investigations.

The vilified church is no stranger than many a long-established religion.

A Times article neglected to mention key criticisms of the president’s AIDS program.

Intellectual property’s social value may trump copyright law.

Public schools should be accountable to parents rather than to the government.

A former Chicago constituent asks her candidate of choice to start talking real politics.

There’s much yet to learn about privately operated public schools; we needn’t be so polarized about them.

Philanthropists say their donations help create a winning system; two professors say the game is rigged.

A weak secret court is to blame for abuses of foreign surveillance.

It’s not racism that’s been making the difference, it’s a 16-year head start.

A San Diego columnist disputes Gregory Rodriguez’s claims on blacks, Latinos and voting.

It’s a fair idea, but it could sow discord among teachers.

The last word on the company’s Liberian operation.

How a fraternal culture and a habit of blaming the victim leave sexual violence unexamined and unpunished.

A Firestone executive and an author square off over the company’s role in this troubled nation.

Critics haven’t offered a viable alternative to the reality-based, progressive AB X1-1.

Contrary to The Times’ descriptions, violence in Kenya has many roots.

A Canadian military officer explains why the U.S. Defense secretary’s comments upset allies.

Why not give commuters the pleasure of an easier trip?

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s VP strikes out at ugly American journalists.

A screenwriter explains the strategy behind separate agreements.

Reason magazine’s Brian Doherty responds to Michael Kinsley.

The Pakistan Peoples Party is right to keep her family in charge.

Public salaries should rival private ones to attract a diverse and talented bench.

A former Writers Guild president explains.

Two supporters of Israel in Congress say it isn’t about the lobby.

A raid at L.A. Trade Tech is the latest proof.

Shared history and values, not the lobby, unite Israel and the U.S.

Why should mall shop owners have more rights than employees or shoppers?

The “Undercover Brother” screenwriter defends his move to return to work.

The Times should have highlighted the inconsistencies in the presidential candidate’s positions.

Denying potentially life-saving transplants is an insurer M.O.

The Times’ L.A. Visions profile of the Clinton-era prosecutor was too friendly by half.

Plaintiff’s attorney says don’t trust stats on clergy abuse.